A foot valve is a one-way check valve located at the intake end of a pipe leading to a suction pump. The function of a foot valve is to prevent the loss of priming water when the pump is not in operation. Typical foot valves have a surrounding screen to prevent the intake of large articles that would damage a pump. Such valves are also usually of the same diameter as the pipe to which they are to be connected, rendering them suitable for use at the bottom, or "foot" of a well hole.
Water intake stands for introducing water into a pipe are intended to minimize the intake of sediment and debris from river and lake bottoms. A concern respecting water intake stands is that they should locate the intake near, but not at the bottom of the water body, and they should not protrude substantially above the bottom to an extent that makes them vulnerable to being upset by currents, or by fisherman's lines or anchors.
A basic known way of supporting and stabilizing a water intake is to fasten the intake end of a pump pipe to a box with a perforated lid filled with gravel that is sunk to the bottom of a river or lake bed. This fastening is effected along the upper edge of the box thereby causing the pump pipe to trail downwardly to the bottom as it proceed towards the shore where a suction pump is located. Such an elevated pipe section is vulnerable to being snagged by fishermen's lines or anchors, risking detachment from, or up-ending of, the box.
A simple known commercial stand is that produced by Wally Weights Inc. of Kenora, Ontario, Canada. In one version, the Wally Weight (.TM.) stand consists of a plastic "wheel" with the water intake occurring at the axle location. With a rigid length of intake pipe extending as an axle, the wheel lies on the lake bottom with the intake orifice elevated above the bottom. Provision is made at the intake opening in this stand for a foot valve to be attached. In use, the foot valve would be oriented at an angle between the horizontal and vertical positions.
A second version of a water intake stand from the same source provides for a cone that rises to the pipe intake at its center point. The cone and intake pipe are perforated to allow water to pass therethrough and enter a submersible pump located in the vertically extending central pipe portion of the stand. Such pumps do not always need a foot valve, although one may optionally be present.
Another company selling water intakes is the Big Foot. Manufacturing Co. of Cadillac Mich. U.S.A. The Big Foot(.TM.) intake is in the form of two concentric perforated cylinders having an annulus therebetween. This annulus is filled with pea-sized gravel to strain water passing through to the core where the intake orifice is located.
While these prior art water intakes are able to function as intended, neither fully address the desirable objectives of providing an assembly for supporting a foot valve in conjunction with a water intake stand which is readily portable prior to installation, is relatively stable and anchored once installed along a lake or river bottom and provides a positioning means for locating the intake orifice above the actual bottom of the water source. It is with the objective of providing such a combination of benefits that the invention described hereafter has been conceived.
The invention in its general form will first be described, and then its implementation in terms of specific embodiments will be detailed with reference to the drawings following hereafter. These embodiments are intended to demonstrate the principle of the invention, and the manner of its implementation. The invention in its broadest and more specific forms will then be further described, and defined, in each of the individual claims which conclude this Specification.